Customer Reviews

Curious George 2: Follow That Monkey

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

The popular curious monkey is back once again in another adventure along with Ted and a new friend named Kayla in a cross-country adventure filled with action and humor!

With the success of the first "Curious George" film back in 2006, the popular character from the children stories by H.A. and Margret Rey makes his return to the sequel "Curious George 2: Follow That Monkey" in a direct-to-DVD release (note: the film made its world premiere last Summer in several countries) from Universal Studios Home Entertainment.

In "Curious George 2: Follow That Monkey", Mr. Bloombsberry wants Ted (played by Jeff Bennett) to become the next museum director. Excited about his job, he now needs to impress the museum's Board of Director's and has been too busy focusing on his work. With the Piccadilly Circus coming to town, George wants Ted to take him to the circus and Maggie wants Ted to spend more time with her. But he is too focused on working on his presentation.

But nevertheless, he feels he does owe it to George to take him to the Piccadilly Circus and somehow, the two get selected to go up on stage by the magician Piccadilly (played by Tim Curry). But George as curious as ever, ends up at the bottom of the stage and meets a new friend named Kayla, an elephant from the circus who has the talent of juggling and ends up breaking him out of the circus. Government investigators led by Danno Wolfe (played by Jamie Kennedy) are called in to find out on what happened to Kayla the elephant and why its missing. Meanwhile, George is missing as well.

George and Kayla end up walking through the city together with George taking back Kayla to his home. George and Kayla then watch a newscast in which Hark Hanson (played by NBC's "Today Show" host Matt Lauer) talks about the missing elephant and how he lived in California with his siblings. George realizes that Kayla is homesick and missing his family. Meanwhile, as a search for the elephant continues and news reports saying that the elephant was stolen, Ted goes back home and finds out that George and Kayla have been at the residence all this time. This is the last thing he needs to deal with because he has to prepare for his presentation to the museum Board of Directors.

But before he can make the call to have Kayla returned, George decides to help Kayla go back home to California by going to the train station. And thus, Ted goes after them and finds the two inside a train box car. As he tries to convince them that they need to get out of the box car, the train starts moving and the next thing you know, the three are stuck inside and now are being taken cross country in the middle of nowhere.

Meanwhile, the investigation starts to center on Ted as the main suspect in Kayla's disappearance and people including Ted's boss Mr. Bloomsberry and even Maggie believe there must be a reason why Ted may have escaped with Kayla. Ted knows he's in a deep mess but hopefully he can clear his name. But for George, all he wants is to make sure Kayla the elephant sees his brother and sister.

VIDEO & AUDIO:

"Curious George 2: Follow That Monkey" is featured in anamorphic widescreen (1:78:1). Featuring the same vibrant style and painted backgrounds along with CG incorporated from the first film, "Curious George 2: Follow That Monkey" manages to capture the characters and the world of "Curious George" quite well. Featuring a pretty colorful pallet, and beautiful artistic backgrounds, fans of the first film will no doubt enjoy the animation used in the sequel.

As for audio, audio is presented in English Dolby Digital 5.1 and Spanish and French Dolby Digital 2.0. Audio quality is nice and clear, dialogue is understandable and music is also crystal clear through the front and center channels.

Subtitles are in English SDH, Espanol and Francais.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

"Curious George 2: Follow That Monkey" comes with the following special features:

* Curious George's Cross Country Caper Game - Using your DVD remote control, you can help George and Kayla travel throughout the country safely.
* "Hold On, Here We Go" Music Video - (2:25) Featuring an animated video with clips from the film.
* DVD-Rom - By playing the DVD on a computer (DVD-Rom Drive), you can access printable coloring pages, wallpapers and more.
* Bonus TV episodes - Featuring two never-before-seen TV episodes (around 12 minutes each) from the new TV season of "Curious George" - "A Monkey's Duckling" in which a baby duckling thinks George is its mother. In "George's Super Subway Adventure", George as curious as always, hops aboard a subway in the city without Ted and thus Ted tries to go after him.

JUDGMENT CALL:

In my household, "Curious George" has been a big part of my young son's upbringing. From the animated television series, to the coloring books, reading books and the first film, I watched "Curious George 2: Follow That Monkey" alongside with him and he absolutely loved it and giggling at many parts of the film.

As for me, I enjoyed the film. As usual, George's curiosity tends to get Ted in a bit of a bind and in this case, a fun adventure throughout the country. The sequel also features a good number of talent such as Tim Curry as Picadilly the magician, Jamie Kennedy as investigator "Danno" Wolfe, Matt Lauer as news host Hark Hanson, Jerry Lewis as the stationmaster, Frank Welker as a cow, Amy Hill as a flower pot lady and many others with short vocal cameos.

Where the first film featured adventure and the romance between Ted and Maggie, there is less of the relationship factor between the two adults but focusing on the adventure of Ted, George and Kayla ad featuring a message to those who tend to put work ahead of their love ones. But for the most part, this is a fun "Curious George" film.

In a parent standpoint, for me...I felt the film was quite safe but there is one segment in the film which Ted, George and Kayla meet new friends who own a farm and the son of the farmer is jumping high and landing in a haystack and then they all take part in the jumping of the haystack. My son thought that was such a cool thing and wondered if he can go up high and land on things and thus, it's important to talk to your child about those type of situations and making sure that he/she knows that they can't jump high from anything and land on whatever.

As for the DVD, it's a pretty entertaining and educational DVD with a game, DVD-Rom features such as coloring pages and wallpaper, two never-before-seen TV episodes and more.

Overall, "Curious George 2: Follow That Monkey" is just as entertaining as the original animated film. A lot of fun, humor, beautiful and vibrant animation and both myself and my seven-year-old enjoyed the film/DVD and I imagine parents and their children would enjoy this DVD release as well! Definitely recommended!

This movie is a direct sequel to the Curious George movie and has some of the same characters, such as Ivan the Doorman and Mr. Bloomsbury, the owner of the museum. The Man With The Yellow Hat is voiced by the same person who voices the character in the PBS series.

As a parent, I am extremely disappointed in this sequel. What kind of kids' movie mentions *murder* and has a *kidnapping* theme??? There isn't an actual murder, but why bring it up so little kids can ask about that word? (It's brought up by the security guy character, voiced by Jamie Kennedy, who is investigating the disappearance of a circus elephant)

Unlike the PBS series, The Man With The Yellow Hat does not keep his cool or patience. He yells at George and freaks out several times.

There is not nearly enough George and way too much of The Man freaking out and of Matt Lauer reporting on an elephant kidnapping. The character the kids love in this series is George, yet you'd think he was a supporting character with how little we see of him and his antics.

We loved the original movie and adore the PBS series, but I do not recommend this movie.

Curious George 2: Follow That Monkey is a fantastic follow up to the 2006 original. Curious George meets a new friend, Kayla, a homesick elephant who wants to see her family again. Together, with the Man in the Yellow Hat, they embark on a cross-country adventure where comedy and adventure ensue. I thoroughly enjoyed George's new adventure. I would even say I enjoyed this movie more than the original. The animation is bright, vivid and fluid. Carbon Leaf who provided the songs for this sequel fit harmoniously with the story and the world of Curious George. The highlight of the soundtrack is "The Friendship Song" when George and Kayla first meet. The voice actors do a nice job giving life to these wonderful characters; you just can't help but smile when hearing George's coos. I HIGHLY recommend any fan of Curious George, family movies, and/or animation to add Curious George 2: Follow That Monkey into their collection. Hopefully we will continue to see our favorite curious little monkey on many more big adventures.

You're probably looking at this b/c you've got kids, so you don't have extra time. Let's start.

1) There's a monkey. Not just any monkey, tho, it's Curious George, whom my 2yo loves to watch on PBS during the week. Although just any monkey might have sufficed. Hard to say.

2) There's an elephant...who appears out of a BUBBLE. My 2yo loves elephants & blowing bubbles. Combining the two simply results in the most fabulous concept ever. Period. (To add to it, eventually there are THREE elephants!)

3) There's a train, & the monkey & elephant ride on it. My 2yo LOVES trains.

So, as you can see, the above results in the toddler trifecta for the perfect movie ever made...at least for my 2yo.

Here's why I can stand it.

1) I've always loved Curious George, & this is a not-annoying cartoon sequel, unlike what the Disney franchise likes to crank out.

2) The music is surprisingly decent, even borderline good. I find myself singing along while my 2yo is watching.

3) It is the ONLY thing (indoors) that will hold my toddler's attention for longer than 15 mins. Not even Legos or Sesame Street can boast that accomplishment.

4) It's available on Netflix streaming (as of the time of this review). Um...awesome.

5) The bad guys aren't really bad...just socially awkward & perhaps lacking some intelligence.

6) "Scary" things happen, but my toddler knows that it will be resolved satisfactorily, so she doesn't get scared. There's no death or heavy emotional challenges. No trauma (unlike Disney, again).

7) And there's no romance! I really appreciate that. I get tired of children's movies feeling a romantic element is necessary on some scale. Not all do it, but enough do that it gets annoying. This doesn't have it, & I like that.

8) Yes, the story's full of holes, but it doesn't matter. My toddler can't tell, & the story remains cute & engaging.

9) It's 80 mins long. Perfect.

10) We haven't seen the first movie, but this stands alone, just like the books.

So overall, it's a very cute, acceptable movie that I'm comfortable letting my toddler watch. It reaffirms the concepts of friendship, filial love, & doing the right thing. It's not perfect, but it doesn't have to be. I'd definitely recommend it for little ones.

I absolutely, completely and totally am in love with this adorable little monkey. Curious George is the epitome of a fun loving, spontaneous toddler. He has a heart of gold...but trouble seems to find him no matter how good his intentions.

The IE Twins have watched this numerous time and each time have been excited about our adventure. Laughing, cautioning and cheering George on throughout every step of his adventure.

George's heart of gold leads him to the aid and rescue of a baby elephant. George meets her when The Man With a Yellow Hat takes her (unwillingly) to see a Magic Show. George is enthralled and of course becomes part of the act...only to find a little sad baby elephant.

The rest of the DVD allows you to journey with George and The Man With a Yellow Hat as they find the baby elephant's family. A sweet happy ending is offered when the baby finds her family.

Definitely a keeper!

Love this movie my 3 year old is addicted to it. He loves the elephant and all George's adventures. YOu can't go wrong with this movie.

The first Curious George tops this one by far, but my daughter still likes it. Curious George is the by far the best character and the one that is most engaging.

I started to watch this movie when my 3 year old grandson started to watch it. It has succeeded Toy Story 3 as his favorite movie. He seems to love to watch George, and Kayla the co-starring elephant, endlessly.

I was underwhelmed the first time I watched it, probably because the animation wasn't particularly interesting. But the story and depth of character are really very good. The story has many clever moments in the style of a comedy of errors which should hold an adults attention through multiple viewings. The villian, who in this movie is the investigator who invents the crime of kidnapping through his over-zealous sense of criminal suspicion, has become one of my favorite comic criminals. The voice actors in this movie seem to create characters that are both believable and familiar mild stereotypes typical of whatever genre you want to call this type of movie. The music is catchy and uplifting which is appropriate for this type of movie.

It's not one of my fave. I thought a first this movie would be more like the other one,however, it's still a pretty good movie. I must say I prefer the first movie over this one.

This is a really good kid's movie.
In the first movie, The Man With The Yellow hat's voice is done by Will Ferrell, and in this one it is done by the same voice as the PBS series. I think it is better that that way for the sake of continuity.
As for the Man's behavior, isn't it only appropriate that he is stressed out over his current work situation and the fact that his monkey wandered off with an elephant on a train headed for California? Kids see us (adults) handle life's stress and can relate to how George feels as he has to deal with the Man's stress. I don't think he lashes out at George or "freaks" out any more then the average, NORMAL, adult.
My three-year-old has watched this movie over a hundred times and has never once asked me about what kidnapping or murder is, but when he does, I will respond with the truth, since these things do happen in real life, why not deal with it when the source is a harmless movie?
In response to the "talentless band" who preforms the music for this movie, I think they are great. The songs are appropriate for the feeling of each scene and are really very good. So they aren't "mainstream" but they are good.
Over all, I think this is a wonderful movie for any child who enjoys the PBS series.